Matousek said since she announced her pending retirement, she has received many e-mails from staff, including one titled, "Our Loss."

"I'm sad to hear of your pending retirement. You've been advocate for our students and teachers... It's truly a loss for our district," the e-mail read.

"That's the feedback I've gotten from staff," she said.

Matousek said no one on the school board ever asked her to resign or retire, but some board members disagree.

Here is what each board member had to say:

Board president J. Mark Lawson

I have discussed with her the possibility of a retirement since I knew she would eligible for it at the end of this school year. I felt like it was important for her to consider it because I knew we were in for a rough ride and it was going to be a very difficult time.

I encouraged her to consider because I felt it might be a good option for her. There were a lot of controversial things we were dealing with. It was hard for all of us, and I believe it was difficult for her as well.

I want to emphasize this was her choice. She choose to do this. There was no board action.

I certainly thinks this provides us with an opportunity to look very hard at what type of leadership we need. I'm grateful for that opportunity.

I think she got some important things accomplished and she was not afraid to face some difficult issues and help us grapple with them. But I think it is difficult for anybody to lead effectively in the kind of environment we've been in the last several months.

Vice president David B. Savlov

I have asked her to resign several times. The first time I brought it up in early September.

I think for the good of the district because of all that was going on, I think she should resign. And I told her that on more than one occasion.

Back then, it was like a fire storm of activity. Getting a new lawyer was badly needed. And new leadership is also badly needed.

It doesn't undo all the things that have happened.

She blames a lot of the problem on the predecessor, but basically she's still got to be held responsible for what's happened in the district since she took her position.

It is my opinion, the district would be best served by going in a new direction. We have to look forward, not backward.

We have hashed and re-hashed all our problems, the legal services and all the other issues pointed out by the comptroller. Now it's time to move forward.

The board didn't issue a statement to her. It was more individual. No board action was ever taken.

When I suggested she resign, I got no response. She basically avoided responding to it. That was my take.

We still have to decide how the board is going to move forward with a search. We want to make sure we pick the right person. We're not going to rush into it, like last time.

Patricia Mouton

Clearly you saw the pressure from the community (for her to retire). It was an ongoing discussion between us and Jan. It wasn't you must resign or you must retire. It was an ongoing thing.

I expressed an opinion to the board and Jan was there. I said it was probably the best thing to do, but I never said, Jan you must do this.

(The conversations took place) after some of these horrendous meetings and people said they'd never vote for budgets and referendums.

I never demanded (she retire). I would call it a recommendation from the board, but not a demand.

It was not a good situation. It wasn't good for her. It wasn't good for the school. It was limiting her ability to do what she needed to do as well.

This community outcry put her in difficult circumstances and put the board in difficult circumstances, and we are a group that represents the community.

It's tragedy that the voters lost trust in Jan. Board meetings had been very tumultuous.

There were several crisis that led up to this. Fair or unfair, it led the community to lose trust in her. And I think the public lost trust. It was clear in the meetings, those very vocal members of the community had lost faith in Jan and her leadership.

I hope we can move forward. I'm in no rush to find a new superintendent. I want to be very, very careful in choosing the next superintendent. I just hope it works out well for all concerned.

Liverpool needs to come out of the headlines.

I hope we can settle down because we are a good district and students get a good education with us. It's not appearing that way and it's very sad.

Donna Marsh O'Connor

I never directly asked her to resign.

The perception of the community is that she cannot survive here.

If she were to stay here it would have been detrimental to the district.

I did have a conversation about Jan Matousek about my perception that the community was not behind her. It would have been in the fall.

I think it is a very good thing for the community of Liverpool that she did decide to retire. It will give us a fresh start and an opportunity for new leadership.

I was concerned the community would not let her lead. This is for the good of the district.

Questions about her motives to retire are best discussed with her.

We've been through a lot. There is so much going on in this district. I feel the announcement of her retirement is a very good thing.

She's been superintendent for six years. The controversies have not slowed down. They've revved up. The fact that we have her retirement letter in hand is a very good thing.

This board has worked very diligently to bring the community both what they've asked for and what we needed. There are still issues in this district separate from academics that have to be addressed. I think most of us on the board are looking forward to when we can just sit down and talk about academics, teaching and the allocation of district funds toward those goals. We're spending a lot of money on utter nonsense and chasing past problems. We have to stop it and finish the business of the past and move on.

About five people who came to our board meetings to call for change and (at Monday night's board meeting) they acknowledged they'd gotten some. Previously they were asking us for change, to take responsibility, for accountability and to be more open and transparent. And they stood up and thanked us for giving them what they asked for. That made me feel really good. It's not just about that. When we get feedback from the community, then we know what direction to go in.

We're feeling great because we're getting feedback from the community that tells us we're going in the right direction.

I feel the atmosphere in the crowd is a lot less angry. But it doesn't mean the controversies are over. We still have a lot to cover. There's still a lot of work to do in this district.

F. Joseph Unangst

I don't think answering that question is appropriate based on any conversation that took place in executive session.

It is what it is. To be an upstanding person and professional and ethical, which I try to hold myself to, it's an issue that's an executive session issue.

I am looking forward to finding Jan's replacement, someone who can get us where we want to be -- which is out of the paper.

My reaction (to her decision to retire) was that's fine.

We've all been through a lot and I can understand why she would want to retire. If that's best for her, that's fine for me, and we'll have to find someone to replace her.

Richard Pento

No, I never had a personal conversation with Jan concerning what she should do.

The board did discuss the possibility of her possibly retiring. She wasn't in the room. There was general discussion by some board members.

For us to move forward as efficiently as possible I think it was perhaps in the best interest for her and for the district. I think the public was looking for a change and this provided the best opportunity for all of us to move forward.

I think this might be in the best interest for all.

Dierdre "Dee" Perkins

Did I ever tell her she should resign? No, absolutely not. This is a personal decision.

I thank her for her service to the district as a lifelong employee to the district. I'm appreciative of all the time she's spent away from her family, spending time on the job and working with and caring for the students, and nights at PTO meetings. It is a tougher job than anyone has any idea.

She's the first person to get called if a student dies in our district. She's the first person to get called if a student gets in trouble with police. She's the first person to get called if a fire happens and a student and their family get displaced. And she gets to make the call at 5 in the morning on snow days on whether school is open or closed.

I used to think being a brick layer was the hardest job in the world. Not anymore.

Now that I see what Jan does up close and personal, I don't know why anyone would want this job. It's a 24/7 job.

I had an idea that she was thinking about retiring. I always think of people personally first. I thought that this would be good for her and her family.

It's been a challenging time.

I think what we've seen from the community probably made her look at this choice.

I think we're going to face some unbelievable challenges as we go through 2009 and this is going to be another thing. The board's to-do list is very long: The stadium vote, the budget, questions about state funding, contracts that are going to be negotiated, and now finding a new superintendent. We have a giant plate full.

Colleen Pallotta

No, I did not ask her to resign and I didn't have any conversations with her (about whether she should retire).

From her letter, she felt it was the best thing for the district, and for her and her family.

I was willing to accept her retirement.

I'm always looking forward to a positive outcome.

I want to stay positive and keep the community positive. I don't want to continue in a negative light.

(Her retirement) it is a good thing because she felt it was the best thing for the district, and it was time.

Michael W. Murphy

I haven't had a discussion with the superintendent on the matter.

I thought it was an excellent decision. It seems to work for the superintendent and it seems to work for the district. The 6-year duration of her superintendence is about typical for Upstate superintendents. (Her decision to retire) allows the board and the community to turn the page on past matters and move on to our top priority, which is educating kids.

I think we ought to use OCM BOCES to do a superintendent search. I wouldn't limit it geographically, but I don't think we need to go to Hawaii. I'd rather hire a new superintendent than go to an interim.

There would be no cost for BOCES to do the search. When we're talking Central New York and southern Tier, the BOCES superintendent does more than half those searches.

(No decisions have been made on how the board will proceed with the superintendent search. School board members plan to meet in executive session at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the district office to begin discussing how they will search for a new superintendent.)